Collegiate excellence all around
May showers bring news of local graduates who excelled in college sports. One last time for 2018-19, here are a few ...
Illinois senior Alex Diab (Glenbard West) capped his college gymnastics career by winning his second straight NCAA still rings title, April 20 in Champaign. Illinois' only four-time Big Ten rings champion, Diab won a program-record 31 rings titles and set Illinois' highest score, 15.200 on March 2. Adding high bar and floor, Diab was a six-time All-American with 44 career event titles and is a finalist for Illinois' Dike Eddleman Male Athlete of the Year award, announced in June.
DePaul senior Keisha Clousing (Wheaton Warrenville South) was the women's NCAA Division I Midwest Regional winner of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award. The Blue Demons' No. 1 singles player paced DePaul's fourth Big East title in six seasons April 22 in South Carolina. Clousing went 13-5 in dual matches, 6-1 against Big East foes, and was voted first-team Big East for a third straight year. She won 42 matches at DePaul.
Ohio State senior Martin Joyce (Hinsdale Central) was named the ITA men's Midwest Regional senior player of the year. The National High School Coaches Association 2015 player of the year, the Buckeyes' co-captain went 26-11 this season in singles, 31-9 in doubles, and ended his career with 206 total victories to rank 11th in program history.
Northern Illinois senior tennis player Eric Marbach (Waubonsie Valley) earned Mid-American Conference first-team honors, winning 16 singles matches and 21 in doubles. He won 121 total matches at NIU.
Augustana sophomore tennis player Alex Paul (Hinsdale South) and his first doubles partner set a school record with 22 victories as a duo. Paul's 22 singles wins were 1 win shy of the Vikings' record.
Just a junior, swimmer and accounting major Ryan Lehane (Naperville Central) earned Southern Illinois-Carbondale's Jerry Kill Award as "the full embodiment of what it means to be a Saluki student-athlete," a release stated. The Mid-American Conference All-Academic Team member was his team's fastest 100 backstroke swimmer and recorded 10 top-five finishes in 2018-19.
In track and field, at the Drake Relays on April 26 Iowa freshman Grace McCabe (Hinsdale Central) led off a women's 3,200-meter relay that finished in 8 minutes, 31.84 seconds to break a 32-year-old school record by 15 seconds.
Another freshman, at the Missouri Valley Conference men's championships on May 12, Bradley's Joey Simon (Wheaton North) ran on a 1,600 relay that clocked 3:16.49, breaking a 38-year-old school record. Also in Terre Haute that weekend, Illinois State senior Kyle Mattes (York) set a facility record in the 10,000-meter run at 30:00.40, his first MVC title.
Washington University (St. Louis) senior Heidi Nassos (WW South) earned her fifth and sixth All-America honors with a personal-best pole vault of 13 feet, 1½ inches for second place and a sixth-place triple jump of 40-2¼ at the Division III Outdoor meet in Ohio. She won University Athletic Association pole vault titles, indoors and outdoors, her junior and senior years.
Loras junior Patrick Mikel (Glenbard East) was named Central Region track athlete of the year, as he did indoors. The American Rivers Conference MVP a third consecutive year after winning the 200, 400 and anchoring Loras' 1,600 relay, at the Division III nationals he finished eighth in the 200 and set a stadium record in the 400 at 46.27 seconds, the 10th fastest time in Division III history.
Also at Division III nationals came this story: Beloit senior Scott Fuchs (Lake Park), a former baseball player who hadn't participated in track and field until two years ago, earned All-America status with a seventh-place finish in javelin. Beloit's third All-American ever, Fuchs threw a program-record 198 feet, 2½ inches. He since received a scholarship from Iowa State, and with eligibility left will compete there as a graduate transfer.
Helping Triton to a fourth-place finish at the men's NJCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York, sophomore Sam Cravatta (Naperville North) gained All-America honors in four events including a leg on Triton's winning 1,600-meter relay. Harper College freshman William Deshazer (Downers Grove South) was All-American in triple jump.
Taylor University senior Mae Elizabeth Gimre (West Chicago) won the Crossroads League 3,000-meter steeplechase a second straight year. She capped her college career with a 12th-place finish at NAIA Championships in Alabama.
Wheaton College senior Kelly Thornton (Wheaton North) was named CCIW softball player of the year, and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Great Lakes Region first-team pick a second straight season. A four-time CCIW first-teamer who pitched and played infield, Thornton hit .442 with a .500 on-base percentage and .674 slugging percentage, tying the Thunder's single-season record with 87 total bases. In the circle she went 13-9 for a team that finished 19-20. Thornton graduated as the program leader in hits and total bases.
Elmhurst freshman second baseman Mia Tran (York) also made first-team CCIW after leading the Bluejays with a .398 average and .492 slugging. The speedster hit 10 triples and led Elmhurst in hits with 47.
Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, has been good for a pair of York graduates. Junior center fielder Amanda Karnatz earned Midwest Conference softball honors a third straight year after hitting .425 with 35 runs scored and 4 outfield assists. Baseball player Nolan Spencer made the conference's North Division team, a four-year starting shortstop who set program records for runs scored, stolen bases and walks.
North Central College sophomore Charlie Klemm (Hinsdale South) was named CCIW pitcher of the year. In 11 starts the right-hander went 9-0 with 84 strikeouts - second in team history - and a 2.20 ERA. Klemm was a D3baseball.com first-team Central Region pick.
College of DuPage freshman pitcher Jonny Vesevick (Wheaton North) made first-team N4C All-Conference with a team-best 6-1 record and a 2.88 ERA. He allowed a .195 batting average and struck out 52 batters while walking just 23.
Illinois senior center fielder Zac Taylor (Downers Grove South) made the big team in the Big Ten. Entering Friday's regional against Clemson, Taylor was hitting .331 and led the Illini with a .637 slugging percentage, 100 total bases, 38 runs scored, 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases. In 2018 he was drafted in the 36th round by the Minnesota Twins.
Benedictine junior outfielder Jack Feeley (Metea Valley) made first-team Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference after hitting .348, one of 10 categories he led the Eagles in, plus a 24-game hitting streak. Rockford senior infielder Hunter Fiorito (Lake Park) also made first team. In conference he hit .389 batting leadoff and led the Regents in six categories while playing four positions.
In women's lacrosse, North Central junior attack Jessica Deetjen (Naperville North), a CCIW first-teamer, set a program record with 67 goals including 8 in one game. She's got 143 goals in three seasons. University of Chicago attack Lally Johnson (Hinsdale Central) earned first-team honors after scoring 45 goals with a team-high 43 assists.
In men's lacrosse, Illinois Wesleyan freshman Daniel Dickerson (St. Francis) earned all-CCIW first-team honors at long-stick middie, scoring 5 goals with 13 assists and 66 groundballs. Dickerson shared "rookie of the year" honors for the 16-2 Titans, who won the CCIW regular season and tournament.
Illinois golfer Bing Singhsumalee (Waubonsie Valley) tied for 34th overall at the women's NCAA Championships in Arkansas. What's key is the program's lone senior led the Illini's first national appearance. Three times all-Big Ten, she owns the program record for the lowest round, 66.
Fellow Waubonsie Valley graduate Michael Simmons ended a decorated career with the sixth-ranked Lewis University's men's volleyball team in the NCAA semifinals. A redshirt senior libero with a 3.95 grade-point average in business administration, he earned Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association first team and American Volleyball Coaches Association honorable-mention All-America honors each for a third straight season. Third all-time in digs for the Flyers, his 17 digs against USC on April 30 set an NCAA Tournament record for a four-set match. He'll play with Team USA at the World University Games July 3-14 in Italy.
In April, Carroll College cross country runner Claudia Bleimund (Lake Park) and football kicking specialist Griffin Idelman (Fenton) each were named College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin 2018-19 Merle Chapman Leadership Award winners. Each CCIW school selects one male and one female from their Student-Athlete Advisory Committee who participates in a sport and honors them based on leadership, loyalty, sportsmanship and commitment to athletics and academics.
Announcements can come late. Like Millikin men's basketball team awards that credited incoming senior guard Kevin Miller (Willowbrook) as the Big Blue's "best teammate." He played only five games last season, so that says something.
Finally, a personal note. For years, Amanda Jones (Wheaton Warrenville South) lived next door. As a tot, in 2004 her older sister, Kerri, died of leukemia at 8 years old. Later it was discovered Amanda had scoliosis, which after surgery forced her to abandon soccer and cheerleading. She took up distance running, mainly a reserve at WW South. At College of DuPage she stuck with cross country when others bailed after a popular distance coach was let go. Twice she qualified for NJCAA Division I nationals. A senior at Carroll College, in early May at the CCIW Outdoor Track & Field Championships Jones finished third in the 5,000 and fourth in the 10,000, setting personal records in each.
We salute those like Amanda, who never give up.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
@doberhelman1